Don't be afraid of the dark
by MidniteShadowGirl
Summary: Yami Marik has taken over the world. His last effort to help save the world Yami Yugi releases Marik but his darker half has turned him into a child. Hannah Mueller is a survivor who stumbles upon the young child. Summary inside, MarikxOC
1. It begins

**Hey readers. This was out of inspiration when I watched ****I am Legend ****for the billionth time. XD For those of you who read my other two stories I am trying very hard to make the next chapters interesting so please be patient,**

**Any way I don't know how this story is going to go or end but for now enjoy!**

**Summary: Yami Marik has taken over the earth, in a last effort to save the world Yami Yugi releases Marik from the shadows in hopes he can save the world. However Yami Marik turns his hikari into a small child. **

**On the other side of the earth, Hannah Mueller is a survivor of Yami Marik's reign and is desperately trying to find a way to put everything back to normal and survive when she stumbles upon a certain ten year old with no memory of who he is and why he's there. Can Hannah help Marik return to normal and restore the earth? Or are they all doomed?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or the lyrics **

**Prologue**

_When you walk into darkness and you walk into night-Better put by your troubles, better put by your fright-Cause you wanna go forward and you know it's the wrong time to look back__**,**_

Maniacal laughter rang throughout the stadium. Below a podium stood eight people, five teenagers, two preteens, and an almost grown Egyptian woman.

On the podium stood a sixteen year old Egyptian boy with crazy spiked platinum blonde locks and crazy lavender eyes. He wore a black tank top, khaki pants, and a purple ghoul cloak. On the opposite side of him crouched a teenager with equally crazy blonde, black, and magenta hair. He had violet eyes that usually showed determination and kindness. But for now they weren't. He was known as Yami Yugi, former Pharoah of Egypt.

"Well Pharaoh," Marik drawled fingering his millennium rod with a pleased and sick smirk, "I won our shadow game, and I'll stay true to my promise."

Yami Yugi's eyes widened in horror and his head snapped over to his hikari. Yugi was already fading fast into the shadows but now there was almost nothing left of him.

"Partner!" he cried. Yugi forced his clenched eyes open and started to open his mouth to say some words of encouragement but all that came from him were screams of pain and agony, Yami Yugi let out a strangled cry as he was helpless and powerless to help.

"NO!" he shouted. With one last agonized scream Yugi burst apart and disappeared into the darkness. Marik laughed and laughed.

"Nothing can save him now Pharaoh," Marik called out emphasizing "Pharaoh" with sarcasm.

"You're wrong! There has to be a way!" a burnette girl called from below. Marik laughed

"Ha! The earth is mine! The power of the Pharaoh is mine! By the powers of darkness I shall consume, absorb, abuse, ensnare, enshackle, enslave, debase, deflower, degrade, digest and PURGE all those of EARTH! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Run, everybody run and leave me to deal with him," the now former Pharaoh called to his friends.

"No! We can't leave you," A blonde named Joey Wheeler called. As soon as he said that a boy known as Tristain Taylor let out a scream of pain and shock as his body was consumed by flames. Everybody screamed and Serenity Wheeler fainted.

"Now do you want to stick around?" Marik called laughing. "My reign of darkness has started, the light is no more!"

"I refuse to let that happen Marik!" Yami Yugi growled. His violet gaze shifted towards the once good Marik, the innocent one. "There is one way to defeat you and I already know it."

Marik raised a platinum brow. "Oh?" he asked tauntingly.

"Yourself." Yami Yugi said through gritted teeth. Using all the strength he had he begun a ancient magic that he knew by instinct "By the power of the millennium puzzle, I SET MARIK ISHTAR FREE!" Yami called. A light surrounded the shadow torn Marik. Marik's lavender eyes widened.

"Pharaoh! What are you doing? Leave me! Save yourself!" he cried. The shadow shackles released Marik and his body began taking shape, his yami glared in confusion, what was Yami Yugi doing?

"Marik, you're the only one who can save us." Yami panted, he could feel the powers of the millennium puzzle leaving him.

"No you don't!" Yami Marik snarled. Pointing the millennium rod towards his lighter half a light once more surrounded the confused Marik, and he started shrinking. "I shall destroy you as the whimpering pathetic child you are!"

"NO!" Yami called, using all the strength he had left he directed a spell.

"Pharaoh!" Marik's voice called, but it was so distant, his lavender eyes looked younger and more fearful.

"Always look towards the light Marik, be brave, be strong. Be safe." Yami whispered as Marik disappeared. With one last smug smile he allowed the shadows to consume him and Yami Marik's scream of rage was the last he heard.

**Just the prologue for now. Just wait it gets better**

**Um…review please**


	2. The only Survivor

**Ok so I redid the last chapter in case you're all wondering. Sorry it took so long, my English grade slipped to a C- and I panicked so I've been working hard on my paper but I have some free time now. :D anyway onward to meeting the OC**

**Italics=memories **

**Chapter 1: The Only Survivor**

_Yes, it may be a long time till you see the light  
But you'll see the light!_

The silence that hung in the air of Chicago, Illinois was unusual. Also the big city was abandoned was also very unusual. The once busy city had people bustling and running about in a hurry, cars zoomed about in a rush, traffic jams and angry yells also filled the already chaotic city.

But now it was in silence, now the only sound that filled Chicago was the birds and a blue truck zooming bye.

What was also unusual was a person was in the truck. A girl to be exact.

Her name was Hannah Mueller and as far as she knew she was the only survivor in Chicago or in America. She hadn't heard anything on the radio, no calls, nothing.

Hannah was a very pretty and appealing girl but rather unkempt. Her brown hair was in tangles and pulled up out of her face and was always covered in a hat. Her thin body was covered by BDU pants and a black t-shirt. Her dark chocolate brown eyes were narrowed in both caution and apprehension.

Hannah was a cautious person but she was also very brave. She was a risk taker and not afraid to get hurt.

The only drawback…she didn't know what the monsters were that haunted the earth. They looked a lot like the duel monsters characters she had once collected, but that seemed impossible that duel monsters was real. So therefore without the knowledge of the monsters she couldn't do much.

Hannah carried a rifle with her wherever she went, it slung on her shoulder when she was walking and in the passenger seat when she was driving. Worse…she slept with it.

It had been three months since the end of the world. The first three weeks had been hell. Hannah had lived in fear and anxiety; she had no one to rely on and had to take many risks. Hannah had raided the grocery stores for supplies. She had grabbed canned and fresh food. Hannah also went to the library to read up on electricity and had to experiment with wires and had finally succeeded in getting running water and electricity in her house.

She had also gotten the idea to board up her windows and doors like what Robert Neville did in I am Legend. That however had taken forever; she had finished after a month and now she was currently working on how to beat the monsters and their weaknesses.

Hannah pulled over and stepped out of the truck. It was a breezy day and a sickly sweet smell hung in the air. Hannah breathed it in anyway. She started walking enjoying the sunshine, Hannah's gaze traveled upward to the Block Buster sign.

_Nine year old Hannah skipped in the cool shop, her brown eyes eagerly flicking through the rows and rows of movies. Her thin semi tanned legs couldn't carry her fast enough._

"_Now Hannah, remember only one movie." Her mother instructed. Hannah nodded obediently and adjusted her batman hat. Hannah's small hands reached out to the Spiderman movie that had just come out. She grinned her nine year old grin with three missing teeth. Gripping the movie Hannah walked about silently so as not to disturb the other customers and found her mom._

"_I have a movie." She whispered. Her mother smiled down at her and tucked a lock of brown hair behind her ear._

Sixteen year old Hannah stepped into the musty shop and gazed sadly about the untouched movies. Her longer legs carried her to the back of the shop and her slightly bigger hands reached out and took Watchmen. It was a movie her mother wouldn't let her watch, but her mother wasn't exactly here was she? Hannah sighed and tucked the movie in her arms and went to search for some more movies.

After a half hour she stepped back into the sunshine and made the short walk back to the truck and dumped the armful of movies she had collected.

Next stop the library

It was only three blocks from Block Buster to the library. Hannah made her way, the rifle slung around her shoulders. Hannah enjoyed the walk and exercise.

_Thirteen now almost fourteen year old Hannah walked beside her giggling friend Sarah. Sarah was the most popular girl at school and very pretty with bouncy blonde hair, deep blue eyes, fair skin, petite. The two girls were the best of friends because of their interest in art. But today they were going to the library to sign up for the __summer reading program__. They looked like an odd pair, Hannah with her much tanner skin and brown hair against Sarah's paler skin and lighter blonde hair. _

_The girls quickly entered the library to escape the suns burning rays and cool air greeted them. Sarah headed off for the young adult romance novels whereas Hannah made her way towards the comics section. Hannah was an excellent reader and all but comics were her favorite to read. To make her mom happy Hannah picked up a sci-fi novel._

_Hannah and Sarah met up in the "teen lounge" they claimed beanbags and sprawled about to read. Sarah had started up the Princess Diaries-a story Hannah hated immensely-and Hannah started reading X-men. Some boys waved and winked towards them, Sarah giggled and returned the favor whereas Hannah ignored them._

_She didn't like the fact that she was almost a freshman in high school and graduated seniors almost freshmen in college were hitting on her. Unlike most girls it did not flatter her; it didn't scare her either but made her feel uncomfortable._

_As always Sarah left her __bean bag__ to go talk to one of the boys. This time she chose a dark skinned and dark haired young man. "Figures," Hannah thought bitterly, "she would choose the tall dark and __handsome guys__." Hannah loved Sarah to death but Sarah was a hopeless romantic, sighing slightly Hannah closed her eyes and leaned back into the comfortable bean bag. No one understood her obsession with her comics and her dream to be a hero, but for now…she would just enjoy the cool air, the __comfortable room__, and let her fantasy world take her._

But everybody had to grow up some time. To survive Hannah could not day dream as often, there was work to be done, monsters to destroy. Her superhero fantasies were over, now her fantasies of being Earth's only hope was coming true, wonderful. Hannah sighed sadly and opened the abandoned doors into the library and flicked on the lights. The library was in ruins practically. Shelves had fallen to the ground, books scattered all over the huge library, chairs overturned.

Hannah couldn't help it. The library just couldn't be like that. So shifting the weight of the rifle Hannah began to work. She picked up chairs, collected books and sorted them into piles. All the while Hannah began to think and daydream while working.

_On a normal day Hannah would get up around six in the morning to be ready for school by seven she would then meet Sarah by the 7-11 for a quick breakfast of dr pepper and depending on her mood donuts or a candy bar. Then the two girls would head off to school. School would be school like, attending lessons, learning formulas and struggling with math, after school Hannah would either rush off to piano lessons, after school art classes or do her homework,_

_That had been the first two months. Sarah had gotten a senior boyfriend who would give her rides but not Hannah. So Hannah had walked to school alone. Without Sarah breakfast at 7-11 wasn't as much fun even if Blake-the head cashier-would give her discounts._

_Finally around November Hannah decided to talk to Sarah about it._

"_Sarah, can we talk?" Hannah asked refusing to let color come across her naturally tanned face. Sarah nodded, turning to Nick-her boyfriend-she pecked him on the cheek promising to return soon. Hannah led her towards the band and choir hallway where they wouldn't be overheard._

"_How are you? I don't see you all that much," Hannah started, Sarah sighed_

"_I've been busy," she replied._

"_I've noticed, that's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about." Hannah said gently. Sarah's eyes flashed. "I-I think it's great you have a boyfriend and all, but well I miss you. I miss hanging out and walking to school with you." Hannah said, Sarah sighed and looked at her sparkly nail polished fingers._

"_Hannah, I-I'm sorry but you know…things change, we're not in seventh grade meant to huddle together and giggle about boys." Sarah started cautiously. Hannah felt her hope vanish and was replaced by both embarrassment and anger. She was taking the time out of lunch to talk to her best friend._

"_Sarah, we're friends, we've been friends for a long time, but well you're my only friend. I love you and I don't trust Nick to be honest." There she said it. Nick was a track kind of guy, he seemed like one of those who barely made the cut but was still pompous and arrogant about it and thinking he was the greatest person on earth. _

"_What? Nick is such a sweet guy!" Sarah protested, "IF you just hung out with us more, well you would see."_

"_Really? You honestly think Nick would want me around? Why doesn't he offer me rides to school? Why does he go the other way when I approach you? I don't think he wants me around." Hannah retorted coldly._

"_You're jealous aren't you? You're jealous that I find REAL men to go like and be loved in return and that I'm always going on dates!" Sarah raved._

"_You're insane! I may like pretend guys but they will NEVER let me down! They won't break my heart!"_

"_Until they get together with the double D sized superhero women." Sarah snorted. Hannah gritted her teeth._

"_It's a story Sarah. I know what's going to happen. But you know what? Some of us naturally aren't dateable and don't want to date. Some of us see outside the box and are ok with ourselves and aren't insecure when we don't have boyfriends." Hannah replied._

_She must have hit a nerve, Sarah's eyes filled with tears, Sarah wasn't the one to get mad and stay mad, she was a sweet person and Hannah regretted those words. Hesitantly Hannah put a hand on Sarah's shoulder. "I didn't mean that." She said quietly._

"_No, no I'm sorry Hannah, you're right, I should consider you too, and you've been there for me longer than anybody." Sarah said quietly. Nothing more was said as the two girls hugged each other, one drama out of the way._

Hannah blinked as she looked at the tidy young adult section and a beeping sound breaking her thoughts. Looking down her watch flashed and she realized the annoying beeps were coming from her wrist. "Shoot!" she hissed. The sun would be setting soon, and she needed to get home. Grabbing a few books she absent-mindly had set aside she hurried out of the library making sure to flick the lights off.

Hannah looked at the setting sun and broke into a sprint towards her truck and zoomed off. She parked nearly a block away and ran into dump all her books and dvds and grab some extra ammunition. Tonight, she was going to find out some weaknesses. As she passed her room on the way down she noticed her Duel Monsters deck. Hesitating she took the deck and stuffed it in her pocket.

Her combat boot feet carried her to the abandoned 7-11 where she took a bottle of dr pepper and drank deeply. She had slept in this morning but it was going to be a long night. She crouched down behind the counter and waited. At nine when the earth was in darkness she gripped the rifle tightly as she heard the familiar sounds of the monsters.

Screeching, shrieks, gnashing, claw against claw, filled the eerie night, Hannah took several deep controlling breaths and she heard windows shatter. Her heart thumped painfully in her chest but the broken windows belonged to another building.

"Come on," she thought to herself. "Go out and attack," Hannah took a glimpse outside. There were only a handful out, "You can take them on." She encouraged to herself, biting her lip in determination she took out a grenade and crawled slowly out of her hiding place, she opened the door and hurled the explosive away from her, it exploded mere seconds later and the few that hadn't gotten burned rounded on her.

Hannah ran down the block, shooting and trying to ignore her instincts to go home and abandon this mission. She knew one thing, the bullets slowed them down but did not destroy them, the grenades mutilated them and some had died.

They looked horrible. Some looked like mutated zombies; others looked like Greek Mythology monsters gone wrong, a couple looked like skeletons,some were ghosts and were not affected by fire or bullets. Hannah ran until she had reached a church and she slipped in. They did not follow her in, she hoped the church would be safe.

Breathing heavily she sank onto a bench and tried to calm herself. She was scared but now she knew, guns and explosives didn't work well. But what did? What was the key to their downfall?

As Hannah pondered this she heard a crash, jumping she clutched the rifle, more out of comfort. Slowly she made her way towards the noise, she heard scuttling behind the door the noise had come from. "Perhaps an animal," she ventured, but save for some birds, Hannah had not seen any animals. Holding her breath she kicked the door open and leaped to the side. Nothing came at her and Hannah realized she was in the bell room. It was large enough for at least a few people to stand about and pull the rope on the bell.

Narrowing her brown eyes she tried to make out anything out of the ordinary. She saw a shadowed figure huddled in a corner. Creeping towards it she kept the rifle ready, she was ten feet away, and now five. Just a few steps away. Reaching out a hand she made to grab what the figure was wrapped in, a large purple cloak. Her fingers closed around the fabric and she pulled.

Hannah's eyes widened, her jaw dropped as she stiffened holding back a shout in shock and relief. What was under the cloak was not what she expected.

A child, a boy with platinum blonde locks, tanned skin much like hers only a tad bit darker, he was dressed in a beige robe. The thing that caught Hannah's eye though was his eyes. They were a beautiful deep lavender, or lilac, almost her favorite gem-amethyst-color. They were unlike anything she had ever seen. His lavender orbs looked into hers fearfully and he backed away from her clutching the end of the robe.

"Who are you?" he asked his voice quivering barely above a whisper.

**There you go, sorry it was a bit delayed, but I wanted to do a good job and I got busy with some school work. Hope you enjoyed **


	3. The Longest Night

**Chapter three I guess**

**Disclaimer: don't own yu-gi-oh, or the lyrics down below.**

**Enjoy**

**The Longest Night**

_The enemy's out there and it's chaos and fear  
You wanna cry like a baby when that darkness comes near  
You may think that they got us where it hurts,  
but you're so wrong_

"_Who are you?" the boy quivered barely above a whisper._

Hannah closed her mouth, the boy looked frightened and he was shaking uncontrollably.

"My name is Hannah Mueller," she said quietly and gently. The boy tugged the cloak out of her grip and wrapped it about himself tightly. Hannah bent down and slung the rifle back over her shoulders. "What's your name?" she asked. He didn't reply. She put a gentle hand on his small shoulder.

As soon as her hand made contact with him the boy jumped up and started to run. Hannah grabbed the cloak but he only shrugged it off and continued running. She kept the cloak and ran after him.

"Wait, stop! Don't' go outside, the sun isn't out yet!" Hannah called to him. The boy continued running and pushed the doors wide open and ran out into the street. Hannah pursued him, if he was another survivor no way in hell was she going to let him get eaten or killed by the other monsters. She chased him down for at least three blocks until he stopped suddenly and screamed. Three or four monsters were down a street and running towards them.

Hannah started running towards the boy and putting more ammunition in the rifle. She shot three times hitting her targets. The child covered his ears as the shots rang through the night air. The monsters staggered which gave Hannah enough time to grab the small one by his wrist and start running the other way. The kid followed but he couldn't run half as fast as she could, and there was the problem with his robe, it limited his leg movements and he would often trip or stumble.

When more monsters began advancing she scooped him up and ran. Surprisingly he wasn't all that heavy and he clung to her tightly. She could feel his tears splash on her t-shirt and his could hear his ragged breathing. Hannah rounded many corners and finally ran into another abandoned gas station. She dived into the store and hid her and her new companion under another checkout counter. The boy let out a soft moaning cry and she shushed him holding him tightly. His fingers dug into her flesh, he bit down on the cloak Hannah had managed to hold onto. They heard the monsters bang down the door and the glass shatter. Hannah held her breath and felt the other do the same.

Her heart thumped and thumped uncontrollably, the child's did the same thing. She heard the footsteps behind her, she silently willed the younger one to stay silent, she had put the fabric over his mouth and used her hand to clamp it shut, and she could feel his teeth biting the fabric viciously, felt more tears slide down his cheeks and on her arm. Hannah bit her tongue to try and soften her breathing sounds, it wasn't easy as she had run a good distance and had been carrying extra weight, she gripped the child harder when she heard the footsteps get louder and three shadows get closer.

But the monsters seemed to have different thoughts. The shadows swayed but eventually retreated away. Soon the shop that had been filled with grunts and snarls was only filled with silence and two heartbeats. Hannah counted to one hundred before releasing the small boy's mouth, he took in a deep breath.

"Sorry," she whispered. He didn't say anything, only cuddled up against her trembling. Blood filled Hannah's mouth from her biting down on it. Hannah decided not to take him out of the gas station unless they needed to, so the two sat in silence waiting for daylight to come. Hannah did not want to speak for fear the noise would attract a monster and the boy seemed to scared to speak anyway. Now and then whimpers would escape his lips when he heard a cry from a monster.

"_With luck we'll be able to hide out here until daybreak and I'll take him home, fix him some breakfast and let him sleep on a comfortable bed or the couch. I'll find him some clothes that he can run easily in, and perhaps I'll sleep too." _Hannah thought to herself. She was exhausted; she had been running and trying to save the kid's life.

Around four she felt the youngling go a little limp and then his quiet breathing and she knew he was asleep. She however would not succumb to sleep, just in case something happen. Her eyes itched with tiredness and her throat was scratchy, she felt stiff from sitting there for almost six hours. The minutes seemed to drag on and Hannah thought she was going to explode, she had never been the patient type.

Luck wasn't on their side, when it was nearing six Hannah knew the sun would be up soon, give or take a half hour but the boy said he had to use the bathroom really bad. Hannah decided to come out of hiding and take him to the bathroom,

The boy did his business and they were starting to go back into hiding when again the windows of the gas station burst open, Hannah knew they were in major trouble, she locked the bathroom door and ushered him into a stall where she locked it and made him stand on the top of the toilet as she crouched on it. There were bangs and roars from the creatures, she heard the store being torn apart. Then there was a bang on the bathroom door.

"Kid, if they come in here this is what you must do, climb onto my back," she murmured to him, she stepped down off the toilet and he climbed on, the hammering on the door didn't stop.

"Now, when they break in, hold onto me tightly, the gun is going to sound loud, but you must hold onto me no matter what. Because as soon as I can I'm going to make a run for it. There's an emergency exit right across the hallway, but no matter what hold onto me." She ordered. She felt his head nod and his legs tighten about her and his arms clutched around her shoulders.

She unlocked the stall door and walked over to the door and stood behind it. The door burst open and the creatures piled in, Hannah shot like mad and ran out of the bathroom pushing the emergency exit door open and sprinted outside only to stop in horror.

Surrounding the whole gas station were the hideous monsters, with their lifeless and or rotting eyes. They advanced towards her. Hannah could only gape at them and the small boy buried his head in her shoulder, he was sobbing uncontrollably, Hannah felt her protectiveness to this stranger over come her.

"_Hannah!"_ a voice called out of nowhere. Hannah looked around wildly hoping to pinpoint the voice. _"Hannah, you cannot physically overpower them, trust in the good cards, the cards that will bring justice and protect you." _The voice told her, Hannah had no idea what he was talking about until she heard the boy on her gasp and point to her pocket. Her pocket was glowing illuminating a light. Hesitantly she reached in and took a hold of her Duel Monster cards.

The first card on top was Dark Magician Girl, a gift given to her by Sarah. _"You know what you must do," _the voice whispered gently. Hesitantly Hannah took it and held it up, the light that surrounded them all was amazing and gave Hannah assurance and warmth. And then a girl with blonde hair and in a strange outfit floated beside Hannah.

"Hannah, I have been sent by a friend to aid you, I am your humble servant." The girl spoke. Hannah could only gape at her, the Dark Magician Girl raised her wand and what seemed like magic discharged from the wand and hit the monsters. All the nightmarish creatures dissolved and after the bright lights faded they were all gone.

"Th-thanks," Hannah mumbled in shock. The girl smiled at her,

"Whenever you need my assistance take my card out and call for me," she instructed. Hannah nodded and smiled at her ally and when the rays of sunshine lit the earth the girl disappeared. Hannah stared at the card in wonder gazing upon the assuring smiling character painted on it.

"Come on, I'll take you to my home," Hannah told the boy on her back. He nodded. As Hannah walked the sun lit roads she asked him a few questions.

"Where are you from?"

"I-I don't remember," he whispered.

"How old are you?"

"Ten,"

"Did you have any family?" she asked mentally facepalming herself. What a stupid question. But his answer took her by surprise.

"I, I think I might have, once. But if I did they must hate me now." He said solemnly his lavender gaze on the ground.

"Why?" she asked. He was silent as he pondered this.

"I don't know." He said quietly. Hannah frowned. Did he hit his head and lose memories? Finally they reached her house and she set him down gently.

"Welcome to my house." She said. He nodded but he seemed lost in thought. She looked down at him, the light made him seem older, more sophisticated, more serious. His gaze was on her door in deep thought, his brows furrowed.

"What's your name?" she asked. He looked up to her, his platinum locks shifted slightly in the breeze.

"Malik, my name is Malik."

**Woot! Two chapters up in one day, er-night, my parents are kinda gone so I'm taking advantage of full reign on the internet and computer. Mwahahaha. Review please.**


	4. What happened?

**Ah, how long has it been since I last updated this? Too long for my liking. Well I'm very sorry about this, it's kind of a short chapter but I like it.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh at all **

Hannah sighed tiredly as she led the tired kid to her room. What a morning it had been. First off when the two had walked through her door she asked if he wanted anything to eat. Malik's lavender eyes gazed at her thoughtfully before asking shyly what she was willing to offer.

"Whatever you want." Hannah had replied, Malik lowered his gaze and stared at the ground,

"Surprise me." He finally said. Hannah was too tired to really cook anything so she put two slices of bread in the toaster and took out a jar of peanut butter,

"Do you have any allergies?" she asked him, Malik shook his head.

"None that I can remember." He said.

"You can sit down you know," Hannah told him pointing to the stool by the counter, Malik climbed up on it and sat there waiting, his lavender eyes never leaving her. Hannah felt as if they were searching through her, piercing into her very soul, yet he looked so harmless and innocent. Perhaps it was his size, the boy was a little more than a head smaller than her and she was of average height. He was also very slender and looked half starved, the beige robe he was wearing hung loosely about him. But his eyes were entrancing and frightening at the same time. His eyes showed confusion, wariness, and exhaustion. Yet if Hannah looked closely-which she did-she could see a spark of darkness hidden. Shadows in his eyes that shielded something in Malik.

The distant sound of the toasters popping sound brought Hannah back from reality and she looked away from his eyes. She took the two browned warm pieces of bread and put them on a plate, she then took a butter knife, scooped up some peanut butter and spread it about on the toast, folding the two pieces in half she offered one to Malik who took it hesitantly, he held the warm toasted sandwich and watched as Hannah took a bite of hers, licking his lips slightly Malik slowly took a bite savoring the warmth and stickiness in his mouth.

"I-It's good." He said a small smile appearing on his face, Hannah smiled at him and patted him on the head,

"It was my favorite food when I was your age." She told him, Malik looked up at her curiosity in his eyes.

"What did you do as a child?" he asked her. Hannah shrugged,

"Oh…not much, I went to school and the library a lot, hung out with friends you know kid stuff." She told him. Malik smiled politely and asked about her friends. Hannah felt a little strange talking to the kid but she told him many things, trips to amusement parks, walking with her best friend to school and always having breakfast at the gas station, she told him about school and the good and bad times she went through, she also told him of her obsession with marvel and DC comics, and recently gotten into manga and drawing. Malik listened fascinated because as far as he knew he hadn't done anything like that. But finally he yawned and rubbed an eye sleepily.

"I think someone needs to go to bed." Hannah said with a laugh, Malik looked around her messy house,

"I can er…sleep on the couch." He said. Hannah shook her head,

"Nah you can sleep in my room for the time being until I figure out what we can do." She told him, Malik nodded and closed his eyes tiredly. Hannah had gotten up and took his small caramel hand into hers and the two started walking upstairs. Malik looked at the pictures and portraits on the walls figuring they were Hannah's family as they all had light tanned skin and all had dark brown eyes, although two of the boys and one woman-who he assumed was her mother-all had black hair, Hannah and this one man-who he assumed was the father-had brown hair. He tore his gaze away when he heard Hannah.

"This…is my room." Hannah said gesturing to the first door on the right, Malik stepped in and smiled. She hadn't been exaggerating about her obsession with superheroes. Taped on her walls were posters of people in weird costumes and masks striking poses.

"What's that?" he asked pointing to a person climbing a wall in red. Hannah smiled

"That's Spiderman, my favorite superhero," she told him laughing

"So what does he do? Grow spider legs and crawl and bite people and spin webs?" he asked her incredulity. Hannah laughed

"You're right about the spinning of webs, but no he does not have spider legs and bites people. Although in the cartoons he did once grow extra arms but recovered anyway." Hannah trailed off "have you never heard of Spiderman? Every kid loves Spiderman!" Hannah said, Malik shook his head.

"N-Not that I know of." He said in a quiet voice. Hannah smiled at him,

"It's ok; I have DVD's that we can watch." She told him. Malik nodded not sure what a DVD was. "You can sleep in my bed," she pointed towards her bed and Malik obediently crawled in,

"Later I'll take you "shopping" for new clothes." Hannah told him. Malik's violet eyes widened in fear.

"No, I-I'm never going out there again." He told her, Hannah frowned.

"Look if you don't come with me I won't know your sizes, besides we'll go during mid day when the sun is high in the sky and the monsters won't come after us, also I'll always carry my deck with me, because as strange as it is it seems the Duel Monsters can help." Hannah explained to him. Malik nodded but avoided her eyes; he really didn't want to go out there. "Ok, you take a nap and I'm going to go uh…clean up." Hannah told him. Malik nodded again and sank into her pillows closing his eyes and listening to Hannah's retreating footsteps and the door closing quietly. When she was gone Malik opened his eyes and sat up to think.

He frowned and looked at the blanket that covered him, he didn't want to tell Hannah that he actually could not remember anything that he had done in the past…ten years? Strange, he felt like he had lived longer than just ten years but he didn't remember how this whole pandemic started or who his family was or what he was doing here with nothing but the robe on him and himself. What he did know was that he was afraid of the dark more than anything, in the dark he felt more vulnerable and often heard a dark voice calling to him, demanding that he return to the voice, saying that he couldn't survive in this world that he now ruled.

The one thing that had frightened him more than anything was that one night the voice had told him it was by Malik's hand the world was like this, his fault he had allowed the darkness to engulf the world. Malik would often cry and cover his ears. More than the dark he was afraid of that voice, he honestly did not know how it could have been Malik's fault, he was just a kid.

It was a strange feeling to him, he was sure that he was a kid but he felt much older and much more mature, the boy felt like he had done something monstrous. But he had no information, no way of knowing anything. He had woken up one morning in a dark dismal place cold and frightened with nothing but that beige robe around him and the violet cloak. It was like he had been asleep for a very long time. Malik had wandered about the abandoned streets confused until he saw the monsters, he had hidden in that odd building with the bell and stayed there for who knows how long, until Hannah had come.

Malik felt grateful towards her, she had found him and even though he ran away she had ran after him and protected him, saved him from those awful creatures and brought him to her home offering protection. There really wasn't anything else for him so he decided to stay with her.

The only thing that was nagging him was how did the world come to be like this? Even though he could not remember anything he was pretty sure that it was never like this, and why was Hannah the only person he had seen at all? Were there any others?

Most importantly, what were the two going to do?

Hannah walked the streets of Chicago. She hadn't been lying when she said she had to clean up, she had to wipe away any scents she and Malik had, then again if these creatures were Duel Monsters could they even detect their human scents and come after them? Hannah sighed to herself. "I watch too much tv," she muttered. It was true, when Hannah wasn't busy being a marine then she was at home watching DVD's and reading books. But now she had someone with her, a companion, and a kid.

Hannah didn't really have any experience around kids, she never really babysat and being the youngest she didn't have the responsibility of watching out for younger siblings as her brothers had for her. But she wasn't completely naïve about them, she had read books and seen tv shows and even helped her friend Sarah with babysitting her younger siblings. Malik seemed mature and old enough to Hannah's liking. She didn't have to worry about changing diapers or naps; she just had to worry about his safety and feeding him. Hannah had the confidence in herself to take care of Malik.

After an hour or so Hannah returned to her home and went to check on Malik. He was fast asleep and Hannah smiled, he looked so cute sleeping. She herself headed down stairs and settled on the couch for a nap.

_In the shadows a weak force was struggling to survive and relearn some old strength he had. Sure his memories were fuzzy and he didn't know the powers he had 5000 years ago but before his millennium puzzle had been ripped off his body by that maniac and had succumbed to the shadows he felt some old power remind him. It was only a matter of time. Marik was safe as a child and in good hands, the hands of a stranger but the Pharaoh knew her inner strength._

"_Take care of him Hannah." He whispered_

(X)

"_Take care of him Hannah." _Hannah stirred in her sleep and opened her eyes, lavender orbs gazed intently into light brown eyes. Hannah blinked then shrieked

"Hannah! It's just me," Malik protested getting off of her. Hannah stopped screaming and she sat up with a hand over her heart.

"Oh my gosh." She said panting. "Don't ever do that again Malik, next time just wait til I wake up!" she ordered. Malik smiled sheepishly.

"S-sorry but you were muttering in your sleep." He told her. Hannah shook her head and stood up stretching and looking at her wrist which had her watch on.

"Hm, it's only one. Let's go get you some clothes ok?" she asked, Malik hesitated but nodded and followed her out.

Hannah lived in the city part of Chicago so it was only a few minutes of driving to a Target near the mall, she opened the doors and went in before Malik to be sure the coast was clear and very thankful the store had a lot of windows in it. Malik picked out simple t-shirts and jeans and shoes. Although he insisted on her picking up some gaudy gold bracelets, he said it reminded him of something and made him feel more comfortable. Hannah chose not to question him, the two walked out into the sunshine and Malik looked sadly at the ruins of the city.

"What happened?" he whispered to himself.

Hannah had heard and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't you remember?" she had asked him. Malik looked at his new shoes and shook his head.

"I don't know or remember anything Hannah." He whispered. Hannah looked up at the sky,

"I'll tell you. It'll be a day I'll never forget." She said.

**And I'll leave it there. Again I'm sorry bout the loooong wait, I've been busy with my new job and an audition to keep hold of a scholarship. Well please review. It feels good to be writing again **


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